The 102nd Hunger Games: The Return Of The Mockingjay
by Blazing Amethyst
Summary: SYOT Open! I have 4 male spots left! Please read and review! Hope you enjoy it! ;) It's been 26 years since the rebellion. 15 years since Katniss Everdeen had children. 9 years since my father went missing, presumed dead and one month since it was announced that The Hunger Games were going to be brought back. I am Laurel Keene and this is my story of The 102nd Hunger Games.
1. The Beginning

**Here is my new SYOT! It is slightly different as your tribute will not have its own point of view. The whole story will be ritten in my characters point of view, but your tributes will be included too. District 12 tributes have already been made by me and some other tributes have already been reserved. **

**I WILL ONLY ACCEPT ENTRIES THROUGH PM AND THE TRIBUTE FROM IS ON MY PROFILE. I just wanted to emphasise that point. It is just so my SYOT isn't deleated. You cant submit anymore than TWO tributes and you must use the tribute form on my profile. Please submit creative and imaginative tributes! District 13 and the Capitol are also included in this SYOT! I do need a nice female tribute who isn't a career and is from either district 13, 11 or 10. She needs to be about the same age as the main character, so no older than fourteen please! She needs to be the main characters ally, but please don't make her like rue or katniss or any of the characters in the book. I would make one myself, but I have trouble making tributes who aren't like characters in the book :) I want very different tributes, so please be imaginative!**

**I don't need all the tributes, because it's not that type of SYOT. Please try and submit male tributes too, I don't want to end up with loads of female tributes and hardly any male tributes, I want almost even numbers of each tributes. I definately need tributes for the Capitol, district 13 and 11 and I need career tributes! When you Pm me with your tribute, please title the message 'Tribute for the 102nd Hunger Games' or something along those lines, just so I know what its for!**

**I wont be uploading the next chapter untill October half term, which is only about three weeks away! I have a lot of work to do, but I have the next couple of chapters pre-written!**

**Chapter one is just after the tribute list, Please review and think of a name for it. The person who thinks of the best name will get their tribute to live longer in the games! I know its only short, chapter two will be too, but after that the chapters will get longer!**

**Please tell me what you think of the chapter, what I am doing right or wrong and if my characters are too similar to the ones in the book. But the main one is a little similar, you will find out why in a few chapters. You wont really find out much about the characters untill chapter four.**

**Also, please have a look at my other story the 100th Hunger Games! It would be really nice if you could review it! And I also have a poll on my profile, please vote for it!It is on the arena ideas for the 100th Hunger Games, the second idea will be the arena for the 102nd hunger games.**

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**This is the list of tributes so far!**

**The Capitol**

**Male:**

**Female:** _Blaze Andora, 17 ~CallieTheCareer_

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**District 1**

**Male:** _Erno Vict, 17 ~Ares The Gamemaker_

**Female: **_Ailith Andra, 16 ~thislittlemockingjay97_

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**District 2**

**Male: **_Reserved for i-am-foxface_

**Female: **_Ice Spectral, 17 ~Icefire7773_

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**District 3**

**Male: **_Reserved for Disenchanted lotf_

**Female: **_Lantana Corsier, 14 ~Disenchanted lotf_

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**District 4**

**Male: **_River Fausse, 16 ~Dynamite-Dreams__  
_

**Female: **_Serene Cascata, 16 ~Dynamite-Dreams_

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**District 5**

**Male:**

**Female: **_Kaya Sterling, 17 ~i-am-foxface_

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**District 6**

**Male:**

**Female: **_Roxanne Baxa, 16 ~Lilli Lupin Odiar_

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**District 7**

**Male: **_Weslie Skyson, 17 ~dancerchick98_

**Female: **_Arelene Mays, 17 ~honelsaa_

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**District 8**

**Male: **_Oliver Bell, 16 ~HazelFireSky_

**Female: **_Serenity Thompson, 14 ~HazelFireSky_

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**District 9**

**Male:** _Reserved for MockingjayFlyAway_

**Female: **_Nightingale Dessen, 13 ~Trapped In Narnia_

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**District 10**

**Male:** _Jesse Tanner, 17 ~KunoichiOtakuAnime_

**Female: **_Amelia Buckets, 15 ~LegendOfZeldaFreak_

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**District 11**

**Male:** _Farrow Tare, 13 ~Ares the Gamemaker_

**Female: **_Lorelei Tamsen, 12 ~dancerchick98_

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**District 12**

**Male: **_Sebastian Mellark, 15 ~Me_

**Female: **_Laurel Keene, 14 ~Me_

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**District 13**

**Male:**

**Female: **_Reserved for girlonfire27_

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Chapter 1

**_One Month Ago_**

_It was a beautiful day, there were no clouds in the sky and the sun was shining brightly. There was a slight breeze that made the trees wave in the sun. The water fountain looked magnificent in the middle of the town square, the sun glistening off it. _

_I was stood outside the Mellark bakery, admiring the beautiful cakes that I could never have when it happened._

_BANG! The window smashed and glass went everywhere. Peacekeepers and citizens from district 2 wee shooting everyone. People were screaming and running, dead bodies all over the town square. The groung was splattered with fresh bright red blood. The noise was deafening. _

_Some of us were fighting back though. Some of us had guns. I realised that district 12 were prepared, we had seen this coming._

_I ran. There was nothing else I could do. I could hear the footsteps of someone persuing me, getting closer, nearer and nearer. I ran for the forest as fast as I could. Why weren't that shooting? I was out in the open, exposed. I reached the meadow and shimmied up a tree. I was safe. But where was the person who was persuing me a minute ago? I heard a click. A gun. In less than a second I would be dead._

_"Calm down, it's just me."_

_I immidiately relaxed, despite the gunfire and screaming I could hear in the town square. I had to help somehow. I started fumbling around in the tree._

_"What are you doing?" They asked me._

_"Looking for my weapons."_

_"You're going back?"_

_I'm not just going to sit here and watch people get killed, Seb."_

_I couldn't find my knives, so I grabbed my bow and a shealth of arrows and jumped out of the tree, I was only about a meter up._

_I started towards the fence, the boundry between district 12 and the meadow. I never really understood how it stayed upright. It had been knocked down in the rebellion and then been put up again. On windy days, I was alway cautious around it, just incase it swayed a little too far and came crashing down on me. _

_I could hear Sebastien's footsteps behind me. Normally I would have been bothered by the fact that he was still following me, but I was a little preocupied with the situation at hand._

_I quickly climbed over the fence, Sebastien close behind. He wasn't holding a gun, the noise I had heard was one of his snares. Instead he was holding some knives, my knives, prepared for battle. I made a mental note to get the knives back of him later, if we survived this._

_We neared the gunshots and the screaming and we began to fight. I aimed and fired at peacekeepers and people from district 2, not missing any of my targets. I glanced at Sebastien, throwing my knives, he didn't miss any of his targets either._

_You would think I was prepared for all of this by the way that I reacted. Prepared for battle, prepared for peacekeepers and people from district 2 attacking us. In truth, I wasn't. I had just been brought up differently to other children. So, because of my upbringing, I could do something useful, reather than runnign and screaming and getting shot, as some of the people from district 12 were doing._

_I was shaking. I had never been in a situation like this before. But, from the way some of district 12 had reacted, some people had know that this was going to happen. Since when had district 12 started collecting guns? All of a sudden the guns stopped, everyone stopped shooting and there was silence. In the middle of it all, there she was. Katniss Everdeen, the mockingjay, the leader of the rebellion twenty six years ago._

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**Please have a look at Dynamite-Dreams stories and Team Shadow stories, they are really good! Also, check out The Last Hunger Games: Capitol Children by dancerchick98!**

**Remember to review!**


	2. The Games Are Back

**Hi everyone! So this is chapter two! Thank you to Dynamite-Dreams and MockingjayFlyAway for reviewing my first chapter! I made this chapter quite long so I hope you enjoy reading it!**

**I really need peoople to submit tributes, I still have seventeen places left and NO MALE TRIBURES! I NEED MALE TRIBUTES! So please submit! **

**I need lots more votes on the poll on my profile, so if you haven't already voted, please vote!**

**I will updateThe 100th Huner Games next weekend, or maybe on Thursday, because it's my birthday then! Tell me when your birthday is in your review so maybe I can update on your birthday as a birthday present from me! I still need loads more reviews for The 100th Hunger Games though, I only have two reviews for the chapter that I have just done, so pretty please review for me! **

**I will stop blabbering now so that you can read the chapter! Remember to review and vote for my poll!**

**Thanks xx **

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**The Games Are Back**

_One Month Ago_

_She looked the same as she did twenty six years ago, she had hardly aged at all. The face that she hadn't aged much wasn't because of surgery or anything to do with the Capitol, I knew that even if others refused to believe it. She was just one of those people who looked young. I bet it helped her get sponsors in the games. Katniss has the same brown hair and grey eyes as she did years ago. Her hair had grown a little longer and recovered from when it had been burnt in the games, but she still wore it in the same braid as she always had. She still had the same figure, the same power with her words._

"_We surrender." Had she really just said that? There was a gasp from the crowd. How could we surrender? Who are we surrendering to? I had no idea what was going on, but clearly there were some people who did. You could see who, they were the only people in the crowd who didn't have shocked expressions._

_A peacekeeper, who appeared to be more important that the others stepped out._

"_District 12 is now the property of the Capitol, along with the other districts. All citizens of district 12 must do exactly as we say, or face punishment. Do you accept these rules, Mrs Everdeen?" The peacekeeper asked._

"_Yes, I do."_

"_Then district 12 must continue its normal daily business, until the mines are deemed safe enough to be mined once again."_

_Katniss nodded and walked off. Peeta, who I hadn't noticed in the crowd before, followed. The people in district 12 who seemed to know what was going on started to organise everyone. They acted calm, but I could see the fear in their eyes._

_Sebastien and I just stood next to each other, dumbstruck. What the heck had just happened? I thought to myself. In the space of two hours, we had been attacked, the towns square had been destroyed, people had been killed and there was a thick red crust over the floor. We had also fought back, surrendered and been ordered to continue our normal daily business. Not to mention that the mines would be re opening after that closed twenty seven years ago. This was bad news, all of it, and I had a feeling that worse was to come._

_A big man walked over to Seb and I, obviously not impressed that we weren't moving or doing anything. _

"_How old are you two kids?" He asked gruffly. I was not impressed with his tone, and the fact that he called us kids. He did have a gun though, so I decided not to push it._

"_Fourteen and fifteen." I replied in the same tone._

"_Get to school then, like you have just been told to do."_

"_School isn't on today, its Saturday." Seb replied, getting angry with the fact that the man was ordering us around. He was probably weighing up if we should knock him out, or just shove him out of the way and run. Judging by the way that Seb was running his fingers over my knives, I was guessing that it would probably end up being more violent than that._

"_School is on now, so go." The man was now running his fingers over his gun, getting ready to shoot if he had to. I think a gun would do a lot more damage than some knives, so I dragged Sebastien away before he could cause anymore trouble. I heard Seb mumble something about the fact that he could have taken him._

_We were now under the Capitols control, however much we hated it. We were expected to carry on with normal lives and pretend that nothing had happened._

_Then, it clicked. I understood. The Capitol had just regained control over the districts. They wanted thing to go back to the way they were twenty six years ago. Most people wouldn't understand what that meant. I did._

_oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo_

_I then remembered Lilly. Where was she? She was only nine, there were only two places that she could be. Either at school with the other kids, or at home with our mother. She was most likely to be at home, knowing her. _

"_I'm going home," I told Seb, "I need to find Lilly and make sure that she is ok. Put the weapons back in the Meadow before you go to school. I'll see you later." he nodded and I rushed off home._

_The house was quiet when I came in. There was no one downstairs. I walked slowly upstairs, calling Lilly's name softly. The stairs creaked. I walked in our bedroom and found Lilly sat on the bed, knees up to her chest, hugging herself and burying her head in her arms. She was shaking. _

_I sat next to her on the bed and wrapped my arms around her._

"_Where's mum?" I asked quietly._

"_I-I don't know." She replied quietly, trying to stop crying, "people told me to come to school but I went home instead. Mummy was there and she told me to do what the peacekeepers told me and then she walked out somewhere and I came to our room."_

"_You were on your own when we were attacked?"_

_Lilly nodded. I was immediately angry with myself. I should have been with her. Mum was at work, so she couldn't and instead of Lilly being with me, she had been by herself. She could have been shot or even killed because of me._

_I sighed, I should have been with her, but my mother shouldn't have left her on her own either when Lilly came home. That made me worried. My mother usually did a very good job of looking after me and my sister. Even when my father disappeared, she continued to work, she was a very capable person._

"_Well we should go to school then, ok?" I suggested, smiling, "I will walk you there and pick oyu up. Remember, don't leave until I'm there."_

_She nodded again and got up. When we were out of the house Lilly held her hand up for me to hold it. I smiled as I did. I was so proud to be a big sister and to have such a wonderful little sister. Holding her hand and walking to school was just one thing that showed how close we were. After my fathers dissapearence, we had become even closer._

_My sister really did look just like me. We had the same grey eyes, same brown hair. We both had freckles, I had slightly more. We had the same athletic build, the same cheeky grin. We are even both named after flowers. The only difference was that I was taller than her and had a better aim._

_School was how it usually was. I dropped Lilly off and went to my class. We did the same things as we usually did. There was only one difference. One of our teachers was missing. People were saying that her was killed because he disobeyed orders, the other teachers refused to talk about it, which only added to the suspicion._

_After school I walked home with Lilly and out mother was at home when we arrived. She was sat at the table waiting for us. That meant one of two things. One of us –namely me- was in trouble, or something bad had happened. Either was it was bad news._

"_Lilly, sweetheart, go to our room." My mother said. I was in trouble for sure._

"_Laurel, sit down, I want to tell you something."_

_I sat down, no saying a word._

"_Do you remember nine years ago," my mother began, "and your father went missing?"_

_I nodded. What was this all about? What was she going to tell me?_

_My mother was speaking more quietly now, "Well, he didn't really go missing, that's just what you were told because the whole thing was kept secret and you were too young to really understand what had happened."_

_That was just a nicer way of saying that I wasn't trused. I was five, so I suppose that that was understandable._

"_So, what actually happened?" I asked._

"_Your father was one of the few people who thought that district 2 and the Capitol were organising a rebellion in secret. He went to district 2 to try to find our more about it and was killed," my mother was now trying not to cry, I said nothing and she continued, "since then our district started to prepare themselves for an attack. We didn't think that it wouyld come so soon, though, that's why we had to surrender."_

_So my father hadn't actually disappeared, he was murdered._

_Katniss Everdeen had obviously known about the situation and my father must have been the one to ask her to teach me how to hunt and fight. Katniss taught her son, Sebastien, and I every weekend, so I was prepared and so was Finnik. _

_We sat in silence for a while. I was just about to leave when the television came on. It was a new President talking._

"_I am President Dario Knight, for those of you who don't already know. I am here to make an announcement," he began to read some sort of projection that wasn't on camera, "as you all know, the Capitol are now back in control of Panem. After a very serious discussion, we have decided to bring the Hunger Games back. District 13 and the Capitol will also compete in the games. All children between the ages of eleven and seventeen will compete. There will be one boy and one girl reaped from each district. Tributes will not be aloud to take out tesserae. If you are eleven, your name will be in once, if you are twelve, your name will be in four times, if you are thirteen, your name will be in sixteen time, if you are fourteen, you name will be in twenty eight times and so on. If you are in any was associated with anyone who has caused any disruption in Panem, then your chances of being reaped will be doubled. The reaping will start in one month. The reaping will start in District thirteen at six o'clock in the morning, in District 12 at seven o'clock in the morning and so on. The districts tributes will be there for each others reaping, so, district 13 will see every reaping, district 12 will see every reaping exept District 13's reaping and the Capitol won't see any reaping. That is all. May the odds be _ever _in your favour and have a nice day." The television went black. _

_Fifty six. The number echoed in my head. Fifty six times my name would be in the reaping bowl. The odds were certainly not in my favour._

"_District 13 still have nuclear weapons. Not enough to stop the Capitol. Katniss, Peeta and I made a deal with President Knight and we said that the Capitol must be included in the games." My mother told me._

"_What good would that do?" I answered, not really sure what the deal meant._

"_Maybe, in a few years, the people in the Capitol could get fed up with the games and start to protest against them." She had a point, if the Capitol's children were being taken off them, they might start to hate the games. If that happened, then the Hunger Games would have to be stopped._

_I left the house. I needed some time to myself to process what had just happened._

_I went to the Meadow. It was Monday today, so that meant that Finnik wouldn't be there. I wasn't avoiding him, I just needed some time to myself, some time to think about what had just happened._

_The Hunger Games were being brought back. My father has been murdered. I had been lied to for nine years._

_I curled up on the grass. I wasn't really in the mood for hunting right now. I knew I would have to at some point, if the snares I had just set didn't catch anything. They were only simple snares, I couldn't do any better than that. Katniss had tried her best to teach me and Finnik how to set up snares, but, unfortunately neither of us were any good._

_Finnik was more useful with snares and catapults, I was better with knives. I could do a lot of other things too, I could run, swim, climb, identify plants and I had a good aim. It was all because of Katniss, I really did owe her a lot._

_If I am reaped, which by the sounds of it I will be, at least I will stand some sort of chance against the other tributes. That thought reassured me._

_My eyelids grew heavy after lying on the grass for so long. I climbed a tree, so I would be out of reach of anything that wanted to attack me, and I let myself fall asleep._

The escort walked to the stage. She was wearing the usual Capitol clothes, bright and ridiculous. She never said a word, she just walked and picked the girls name.

"Laurel Keene." Was what she read out. She read a boys name too but I was too terrified to hear. Me. It's me. My name. Two weks later I will be dead. Forgotten. Gone forever.

We arrived in the Capitol after watching the other reapings. Then we watched District 13's reaping on the television when we got there. I couldn't think about the tributes right now. I was too distracted thinking about the arena, how I would probably be killed instantly.

We trained and trained, but I wasn't any good. I never made any impression in the interviews either, the chariot rides were a disaster, my stylist was no good whatsoever.

So now I was rising, up the tube, to my death. I wasn't going to fight in the bloodbath, I knew that that would get me killed straight away.

I remembered my training score. Three. Everyone else had got either and eleven or a twelve. I was going to die soon.

60, 59, 58, 57, 56...

The countdown began. One minute. That was all I had left, would I die today or would it be tomorrow? Would I be dead in one minute?

40, 39, 38, 37, 36, 35...

Thirty seconds now. Thirty seconds left to live. Not really that long is it? What would you think about if you onl had thirty seconds left to live?

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5...

I thought about my family, my father my mother. How I would be joining my father soon now, very soon. I thought about Lilly and Finnik, how would they cope without me? Would Finnik look after my family? Teach Lilly how to hunt?

4, 3, 2...

I needed to run, the second the cannon goes off, I have to run. I can run.

1

I ran. As fast as I could, as far as I could. I ran for a very long time. I started to feel dizzy, sick. The world was spinning. I needed food now, water. There was a stream, I drank from it.

Only after did I realise how stupid that was, it could have been poisonous, I had been very lucky.

Three days. That's how long I had lasted so far. Was that good? There were still twelve tributes left, I had counted.

Suddenly I was falling and I hit the ground hard. Everything was hasy. Soil was being poured on top of me, I was chocking, screaming. There was nothing that I could do. Soon I wouldn't be able to breathe.

I could see someone with a shovel, burying me. If only I had looked, if only I hadn't been so clumsy.

I was dying now. The world was drifting away.

Then I was falling, fast. Is this what it's like to die? I wondered. I could onl hope that my family and Finnik weren't watching.

_I hit the floor with a thud and I yelped. I struggled to breathe for a second. The air rushed in to my lungs and I took several long, deep breaths._

_I curled up again on the grass, trembling with fear. That's what it could be like for me. I could be buried alive and forgotten about. They won't even be able to get my body. _

_It was going to be dark soon, so I went to check my snares now, in case they hadn't caught anything and I needed to hunt._

_One rabbit. It wasn't much but it would give my family dinner tonight. There was nothing left over to trade at the Hob, so I just enjoyed the walk home._


	3. Wish You Were Here

**Sorry its been so long! I will try and update quicker. The next chapter will be the reaping! It will start off with D12 and the D11 and so on. I still need more tributes! You can submit up to two tributes, but you cant submit two female tributes, because I have too many. You can submit two male tributes or a male and a female tribute :)**

**Please vote for the poll on my profile, I only have something like two votes, so please vote if you haven't already!**

**Thank you to all who reviewed, two more reviews til I update! I still need someone to submit the ally girl by the way!**

**Hope you enjoy the chapter, please review! **

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**Wish You Were Here**

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_Sometimes I break. I go to the meadow and I lie there, for hours on the grass and I beg for my father back. But I know inside that that will never happen. I will never see my father again. I will never have anyone to pick me up and spin me around in the air when I come home from school and there will be no one to tell me I'm their little angel. I will never have anyone to hold me tight if I have a nightmare and tell me its ok, it's not real._

_I miss my father; I wish so much that he was still here. It's been nine years since he disappeared, and I still wake up thinking that my father will be downstairs, waiting for me, with that big smile and cheery voice. But each time I come, reality hits me hard as I realise that my daddy won't be there to hug me, that he will never be there to kiss me._

_No. I couldn't accept it. My father was not dead. He could have been captured, held there for nine years. Everyone might have just assumed he was dead because they lost contact with him. He can't be dead._

_It hurts so much to think about it. It hurts even more now I know what actually happened. I still remember the day when they told me._

It was a bright and sunny day. There were no clouds in the sky and daddy would be home soon. He was always going to other districts to do work. He mostly went to district one, two and four. He said that they were most important for his work. He only went for a week at the most.

Daddy would be coming home in about half an hour. I always kept watch for the black train that came. It was shiny and new and had blacked out windows. That was my daddy's train, the one he always came home in.

I waited for an hour and he still wasn't there. I didn't worry; he must be running a little late. Another hour, then another and another. Maybe I had got the wrong day, maybe he was coming tomorrow. NO, I told myself. Daddy is never, ever longer than a week. Ever.

It was time for dinner now. I slowly walked home. When I arrived, I immediately sensed that something was wrong. There were hushed voices in the other room and dinner wasn't even cooked yet.

"She is five years old, you can't tell her that." I heard as I pressed my ear to the door.

"It's her father, she has ever right to know." My mother's voice. What about my father? What was going on?

"This is secret business," another voice said, "you can tell her when she is older, but not now. She could tell someone else and word could get out. Then where would we be?"

"One more thing," the first voice said, "her father asked me to teach her how to fight and defend herself. Just in case."

Footsteps, I dived for the front door and pretended that I had just walked in. I was good at being quiet, no one noticed me when I didn't want to be seen.

"Hello, sweetheart." My mother said softly as she walked out of the room with two other people, a man and a woman.

"When will dinner be ready?" I questioned.

"I will prepare it soon," my mother told me, "first I have to tell you something."

She looked as if she was about to cry, for a second I thought that something was wrong with Lilly; she had only been born a couple of months ago. I quickly dismissed the thought when I looked at the two strangers in our house.

"I would like to introduce two people to you," my mother began, "this is Mr. James," she pointed to a big, tall man who needed a shave, "and this is Katniss Everdeen." She pointed to a young woman with brown hair and grey eyes. Her hair was in a braid.

My father had always taught me to be polite so I said it was nice to meet them both and shook their hands.

My mother continued talking, "Honey, your father didn't come on the train today did he?" I shook my head, "well no one seems to know where he is. After he went to district 2 he didn't come back. I'm sorry," she paused a little before continuing, "Katniss is here to see you, she has something to ask." She motioned for Katniss to start talking.

"I was wondering if you would like to learn how to hunt. You can come to the Meadow every day after school with Seb and I, I'm sure that you would enjoy it."

I paused and considered this. Sebastien was my age, just a couple of months older, so I'm sure that we could make friends. But what if other children teased me for knowing Katniss? I just wouldn't tell them. Simple.

"Yes," I replied, "I'd love to learn how to hunt."

_And that was that. I started learning how to hunt and Sebastien and I became best friends. We are both fourteen now, so we hunt on our own, we have been doing so ever since we were ten._

_Only now I know why I had to learn how to hunt, why Sebastien had to learn how to hunt. It was because, even all those years ago, some of us knew that the Hunger Games were going to be brought back. My father was one of those people who knew, which was why he'd asked Katniss to teach me how to hunt. Just in case. _

_As it turns out, it's pretty likely that Sebastien or I would be reaped. But at least I know I will have a chance of survival. I could win._

_I walked out of my room carefully, checking to see if there was anyone else in the house, no one could ever see me like this. Frizzy hair, tear stained eyes, shaking hands. It was a side of me that no one but myself knew. A side that no one could ever know._

_I stood in front of the mirror and cleaned myself up. I composed myself before I wiped my eyes gently, combed my hair and tied it back in one complicated braid. I changed in to my hunting clothes and made my way to the Meadow. _

_I knew even before I got to the Meadow that Sebastien would be sitting on the rock next to the lake, staring out in to space. His brown hair perfectly placed on his head, his blue eyes sparkling in the sun. He was toned and incredibly beautiful, I couldn't deny that. The perfect combination of his parents. He had his mother's fire and his father's calmness. I didn't have a crush on him like most girls in school. He was just my best friend. My funny, arrogant, cheeky best friend._

_As I had predicted, when I came to the lake, Sebastien was sat there on a rock, gazing off in to space. I remembered when he had brought his sister with him a couple of years ago. Katniss wanted her to learn how to hunt too and had given Sebastien and me the job of teaching her. Primrose-Rue Everdeen was a year older than Sebastien and I. She could not hunt at all. When Sebastien aimed his crossbow and shot the deer through the eye (something both he and I could do) she fainted. It was actually quite funny; neither of us knew what to do. In the end Sebastien poured a bucket of freezing cold water over her. She slapped him when she woke up. I had actually tried to stop him, but Sebastien was stronger than me, even though I would never admit it to his face._

_Primrose-Rue had really tried her best to save the deer, but it was dead the second the arrow pierced its eye. Sebastien and I were overjoyed. We had never seen a deer before, never mind caught one. At night we took it to the butchers. Katniss had told us never to take something that big to the hob, she said everyone would tear it to pieces and you wouldn't get a very good price for it. So, when we took it to the butchers, we got an excellent price for it. We bought food that would last us for a week, clothes, medicine and other things that we needed. We still had money left in the end, though. So Sebastien and I spent it on two rings, exactly the same. They were silver, engraved with the word 'forever' on them. I had never taken the ring off since I had bought it and I doubted Sebastien had either._

_In the end we had taught Primrose-Rue how to hunt. She had never actually killed anything, but she could, if she wanted to. She mainly gathered plants and stuff. She was really good at being able to tell which plants are edible and which ones are not._

"_Sup, El." Sebastien had finally stopped staring at nothing and noticed me. He called me El just to piss me off. My full name is actually Laurel. _

"_Hey, Sebby." His eyes narrowed and I smirked. If I was to have an annoying nickname, so was he. I usually call him Seb, unless he uses an annoying nickname._

"_What about Kathy?" That was short for Katherine, my middle name. Unfortunately Seb didn't have a middle name that I could make fun of._

"_Just call me Laurel, dick head."_

_Seb laughed. "I set up some snares further on to the right, race you there!"_

_We both set of running. We were very fast, but I was faster, just. I ran a little to the left, knowing the snares would be on the right and I didn't want to get caught in the ones that hadn't been set off._

_Only when I was hanging upside down in the air by one leg did I realise that Seb had tricked me. I suppose I should have seen that coming. I crossed my arms and shouted at Seb, now rolling around on the floor in hysterics._

"_Sebastien Mellark, get me down from here right now!" I shouted._

"_I don't know, I kind of like you up there, you don't kick and punch as much."_

_I resisted the urge to smile at that. I did kick and punch a lot. "Seb!" I screamed as he started to walk away._

"_Ok, ok. I'll get you down." He cut the rope and caught me as I fell. I kicked his shin as hard as I could when I got down. He fell on the floor rolling about in pain, holding his shin. Now it was my turn to laugh._

"_Come on, we need to check the other snares, in case we caught anything."_

"_You mean in case I caught anything." Seb corrected._

_I ignored him and walked off. I tried to walk with swag, I was pretty sure I could now._

"_Why are you limping like that?" Seb __asked._

"_It's called swag."_

"_No, it's called you being weird."_

_I ignored that comment. We only caught two squirrels in the end so we gathered some vegetables too. We had a squirrel, five potatoes and three carrots each in total. We had some strawberries left so we headed to the hob to see how much we could get for them._

_It was quite busy for a Tuesday at the Hob. Seb and I went straight to Greasy Sae to trade. She was the oldest and most experienced person there. Katniss told us to always trade with her. She was also the only one who would buy wild dog._

_We got a little money for the strawberries and we bought some bread at the bakery with it. We had a loaf each and it was my favourite bread, it had poppy seeds scattered over it._

"_Bye now sissypoo." Was how Seb said goodbye. I slapped him in the face. That was my way of saying goodbye._

_I walked home quietly. Lilly was really excited when I got home. My mother had got us some sweets. We had never had sweets before, it was the nicest thing in the world. My mother looked happy too, when she saw the food I had brought home. We hadn't had a meal as big as this in a long time._

_I went to bed the happiest I had been in a long time._


	4. Bring Back The Mockingjay

**Bring Back The Mockingjay**

It is cloudy as I wake, the sun not quite managing to peek through. There are dark clouds in the distance, coming towards the district. In a few hours there will be a storm.

There is a beautiful white dress set out at the bottom of my bed. My mother has bought it for me. Since the reaping was announced one month ago, my mother has been getting a lot more work than usual, which means that we have more money than usual. My mother insisted on buying Lilly and I a brand new dress each for the reaping.

Mother wanted the dresses specially made, so she turned down my offer of going to the hob to buy them. We went to the most lovely dress shop in the whole of the district. Lilly had loved it. The entire shop was covered in different types of materials, ribbons and dresses, I wasn't really into that kind of thing, but I had to admit, it was pretty amazing. Lilly chose a floral lilac material that was made into a beautiful, patterned lilac dress. I had chosen something much simpler, a plain white material that was made into a plain white dress that was about knee length. It also had a lilac ribbon around the waist. My mother had wanted me to have something a little more extravagant, but I just wanted to have something plain and simple, it made me feel a little close to district 12 that way. Extravagant things sound too much like the Capitol.

So now, a whole month later, I am stood in my room in a beautiful white dress with a ribbon around my waist and white sandals. My mother has told me not to do anything with my hair; she wants to do it for me.

I feel a little excited about this whole thing. That probably sounds crazy. Don't get me wrong, I am mostly scared, who wouldn't be? But there is a little excitement too. My mother has bought me the most beautiful dress I have ever seen and we get to go to the sweet shop this morning. Lilly and I have never been in it before; we had just had to satisfy ourselves with looking through the window.

As I walk downstairs, my dress floats around my knees, I feel amazing. Lilly hugs me as I get to the bottom step. She is happy, she doesn't have anything to worry about, I am glad of that. My mother has done her hair; it looks beautiful, in a plaited bun with a lilac ribbon flowing through it.

My mother smiles at Lilly and I, she looks a little distant. I remember her telling me that, years ago, she was the mayor's daughter; district 12 didn't have a mayor anymore, so her father must have died before or during the rebellion. I don't really know much about my mother's past, just little bits of information that she has shared with me. Like how she and Katniss Everdeen have been friends for a long time, how they went to school together. She also told me that she gave Katniss the Mockingjay pin when she was reaped. I just assume that my mother is important, the Mockingjay ended up being the symbol of rebellion when Katniss and Peeta won the games.

Sebastien told me something that my mother never mentioned, and I'm not really sure if I believe it or not. He said that everyone thought that my mother was dead, that she died when the Capitol bombed district 12, but she was found in the woods, starving and half dead. I'm not sure if it's true or not, but the story has always been there, lingering at the back of my mind.

I sit down and let my mother do my hair. It takes over an hour and I feel stiff by the time she is done, but I look stunning. My hair is plaited back in a kind of swirl that looks like a rose. I have no idea how she did it.

I keep looking at myself in the mirror, loving the way my dark blond hair is styled and how my dress floats around my knees. My grey eyes stand out against my freckled face and tanned skin. I put my glasses on and look out of the window. The dark clouds are creeping closer and closer with ever minute, already the rain has started to trickle down from the sky. The white, fluffy clouds that were there earlier this morning have long gone, replaced by the wind and the rain.

"Honey, you need some breakfast before we go to the sweet shop." My mother tells me cheerfully. She doesn't mention the reaping, but I can hear in her voice that she is thinking about it, that there is a great chance that her daughter can be reaped today.

"Coming!" I join my mother and my sister at the table. I glance at myself in the mirror again, just quickly. I am quite small and thin for a fourteen year old girl. My black rimmed glasses make me look a little weak and defenceless. I won't be much of a contender against the careers, but if I am lucky, they could underestimate me. After all, I am not completely useless.

We eat breakfast quickly before walking to the sweet shop. Lilly is bouncing up and down with excitement, and I am almost bouncing with her. But the reaping keeps me from doing that. It stays at the back of my mind, making it impossible to enjoy anything completely.

The sweet shop is beautiful. Every wall is lined with an assortment of sweets. It is impossible to pick just a few sweets. In the end, I chose pear drops and Lilly chose humbugs. I gave my pear drops to my mother to look after until after the reaping. I try to keep the mood light hearted as we walk to the reaping.

I am growing more and more nervous as it gets closer and closer to nine o'clock. The tributes from district 13 will have already been chosen and are on their way here now. I will see their reaping last, played back on the television after we arrive at the Capitol.

_This is ridiculous. _I tell myself. I will never see the Capitol because I won't be reaped. At quart past nine the reaping will be over and we will all go home and I will eat my pear drops.

By the time the bell goes for the reaping I am absolutely terrified. I have managed to get myself worked up and now I am biting my nails and pacing. Neither my mother nor my sister can calm me down.

As I go to stand in the queue of children waiting to sign in I am starting to shake. I feel a little light headed as the peacekeepers prick the fingers of the children in front of me, signing them in.

I'm only fourteen. Just a child. I can't fight, can't kill. I won't stand a chance. I never have.

I think I'm going to pass out now. Black dots dance across my vision. I sway a little. My knees are going weak.

Suddenly Sebastien comes up behind me and ruffles my hair. I jump and turn around to see him smiling. I hardly feel nervous at all as I return the smile.

"You look so scared." He mocks me.

I kick him in the shin. He yelps and grabs his leg. I laugh.

"Remember to keep your side of the deal we made if I'm reaped." I tell him, suddenly growing serious.

"I will," he says, "promise."

Satisfied, I sign in. The woman pricks my finger and I am shoved into a section with all the other nervous looking fourteen year olds. Sebastien, being older than me by just a few months, goes and stands with the fifteen year olds. He gives me a cheeky grin and I return it.

The girls around me all look down at me as if I'm somehow beneath them. I smile at them and they scowl back at me.

Silence falls across district 12 as the escort walks on stage. Her footsteps echo in the town square. There are two glass bowls on stage. One with the girl's names and one with the boy's names.

The rain that had subsided when I went to the sweet shop before now poured down on us. There are flashes of lightning in the distance and then loud claps of thunder. Another flash of lightning. I count the seconds before the thunder as my father taught me. 1, 2. The storm is only about two miles away from the district.

"Welcome, children, to the district 12 reaping! For those of you who do not know, I am Charlotte Trinket! I am district 12's new escort!" I have never heard the Capitol accent before. It is so beyond ridiculous I have to hold back a giggle as she speaks.

Charlotte looks like a balloon. That is the best way to describe her. Her skin is completely, unnaturally snow white and her hair is dyed purple and in one big spike scraped back from her face. She is wearing bright red makeup and her dress is balloon shaped. The dress is quite short and it is swirls of purple and red and frills. Her shoes are giant heels the same colour as her hair. Her teeth are a kind of blue white, they have been whitened to the point where it looks unnatural and creepy. She also seems to be covered in a layer of super sparkly glitter.

She seems pleasant in a way, but mostly annoying.

"Ok I'm going to play a video now and I just know you're all going to love it!"

Katniss Everdeen and the two tributes from district 13 are already on stage. They roll their eyes at Charlotte's comment.

The video is played. It is about the rebellion, but a twisted version, completely the opposite of what I have been taught in school. The entire video just blames the rebels for everything. It says we started off in peace and harmony, living in luxury. But we got greedy and fought the Capitol for their land and tortured many of them for information. I have never heard such a twisted version of the rebellion before. I wonder if the people in the Capitol actually believe this.

As the video ends, Charlotte speaks again.

"I will now pick a lucky girl to fight in the arena and bring pride to her district!" Her hand moves closer and close to the bowl. She dips her hand in, picks out a slip and walks back to the microphone. I shiver as the rain starts to turn to hail and my breath makes clouds in the air.

"And the girl is..." I hold my breath and pray that it isn't me or Primrose-Rue. I have never heard such silence before in my life. I close my eyes and momentarily hate Charlotte for leaving such a long pause before announcing the tribute.

"Laurel Keene!" I breathe out very slowly, trying to keep calm. I don't move, can't move. I look at myself on the giant screen. I am not crying, but the shock is clearly visible on my face. A path was made from me to the stage and a girl whispers sympathetically for me to go.

I walk shakily to the stage, refusing to give anyone the satisfaction of seeing me cry. My sister is crying in my mothers arms and Primrose-Rue is crying. Sebastien looks deep in thought?

I stare at the floor as the hail continues to beat down on me.

"And the boy who will bring pride to his district is..." I pray for Finnik's safety.

"Thomas Vasallo!" Thankfully, it's no one I know.

"I volunteer!" Some idiot calls from the crowd. It is Sebastien. What the hell? Sebastien doesn't know that kid.

As I look around, my mother, sister, Prim and Katniss don't seem surprised. With a start, I realise that this is planned, behind my back. Sebastien walks to the stage, totally calm. I want to punch him in the face. We have a deal, if I was ever reaped, Sebastien would look after my family, and vice versa.

"Well come on you two, shake hands!" We shake hands and I dig my nails into Sebastien's hand to show my anger.

The Justice Building is plush. It is old and luxurious. The floor is mahogany and there is a red and gold rug on it. I sit on the purple velvet couch and wait for my mother and Lilly.

Lilly runs into my arms the second she comes in to the room.

"You're going to win aren't you? I'll see you again soon, won't I?" Lilly asks hopefully. I can't tell her the truth. I can't tell her no. I can't say that she's never going to see her big sister again, I just can't.

"I'll try. I promise you I'll try my best. I hug my mother and Lilly one last time before the peacekeepers come in and the door closes and separates us.

Prim comes in next.

"Why did Seb volunteer for that kid?" I ask her immediately.

"It was his plan all along, if you were reaped. We all knew that it was likely that you would be. He wanted to go into the arena with you and protect you." The anger is building up inside of me.

"We had a deal. He was supposed to look after my family."

"I will look after your family until you both get back. They'll be ok. Your mother has a lot of money now. They'll be able to afford to buy food and supplies without you hunting."

I feel more reassured at that. "Thank you."

We hug and Prim wishes me good luck and leaves.

I am not expecting any more visitors after that. But Katniss comes in, to my surprise.

"You will do well in the games, it's what I've trained you for, that was the whole point of me teaching you how to hunt. I'm going to be your mentor." Katniss looks cautiously around the room before opening up her hand. There is a Mockingjay pin in her palm.

"I want you to wear this for me," seeing my panicked expression, she corrects herself, "I'm not asking you to be the Mockingjay, I just need you to wear this in the arena for me. You'll have to hide it until then though. You know what the Mockingjay is a symbol of right?" I nod, she is talking faster and faster now, "well I need you to bring back the Mockingjay for me."

She gives me a quick hug and walks out, leaving me speechless.

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**Hi! Hope you liked the chapter! Hope you all had a great christmas!**

**Sorry it took so long for me to update! The next update will be the district 11 reaping! Thanks to everyone who reviewed my last chapter! Three more reviews before I update!**

**Please vote for the poll on my profile and also submit a tribute coz I still have some tributes left. You can't submit more than two tributes though :) I also need any reserved tributes in soon.**

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**~Blazing Amethyst xx**


	5. District 11

**District 11**

The train is like nothing I have ever seen before. It's beautiful and luxurious, I feel a little out of place, sitting on the cream coloured chair. I wonder what it is made of, it feels like a sort of silky fur, but it smells like leather. Probably some sort of synthetic material from the Capitol. I'm still in my reaping dress; I haven't had the chance to change yet. My dress, although brand new, feels old and worn now I'm on the train. The white looking more cream and the ribbon a little frayed, but I love it all the same.

I think I'm in the main room of the train, but no one is anywhere to be seen. It is eerily quiet. I can't feel anything as the train moves towards District 11, it seems to float along the track, no jolts or bumps. I wouldn't even know we were moving if I couldn't see out of the window.

The magnificent, gold chandeliers don't move as they hang from the roof. There is a very big flat screen TV that is playing the District 12 reaping over and over again in 3D. I look away, I don't want to relive that moment again. The room itself looks massive, like a palace, the roof is arched and there are beautiful paintings on it. The floor is a dark wood, mahogany, most likely. In the corner, towards the back of the room, there is a wooden spiral staircase with a red velvet carpet flowing up it. I have never seen a train that has more than one floor, nor have I seen a train so big before. How on earth does it stay on the track? I walk cautiously upstairs to investigate.

I end up stood in a very long hallway. This looks like where all of the bedrooms are. The wooden doors are engraved with names, as I walk past, I read them.

HAYMITCH, which has been covered over with the name KATNISS.

CHARLOTTE.

ETHAN.

I skip the rest; they are just the mentors, escorts and stylists from the other districts. There are plain doors, that haven't been engraved with anything, they have probably been reserved for the tributes that are about to be reaped. Almost at the end of the hallway, there are two names freshly engraved.

SEBASTIEN.

LAUREL.

I go into the room engraved with my name. I gasp as I open the door. I'm met with the most beautiful scene. In the middle of the room there is a gold, four poster bed with curtains and everything. My room has the same roof and floor as downstairs, chandeliers and all. It even has a TV. _A TV! _I think to myself. There is even a bathroom. My favourite thing is the window. It reaches from the floor to the roof and covers at least half of the wall.

I immediately take some cushions from the chair and put them under the window. At night, back in district 12, I would sit under the window and just gaze at the stars. I have always been interested in space. My father would sometimes just stand there and watch me look at the stars, sometimes he would sit there with me and we would talk for hours on end. My father bought me a telescope when he came back from one of his jobs once. I left it in district 12 when I was reaped; I wish I could have brought it with me.

I stand for a while and look at the sky, flying past me. I think of my father, I miss him dearly. I wish he was still alive. He could be, maybe. They never found a body; he could have been captured and held somewhere, far away. I sigh. I know he's not, but I don't think I can accept that. I just can't.

I sit down and try to think of something else, something good. Suddenly the room seems horrible. Sure, it's expensive and luxurious, but it's not like home, it doesn't have that earthy, smoky smell from the fire and the woods. There are no family photos, nothing is old and worn, it's all new.

"Stunning isn't it?" A voice from behind me makes me jump and turn around, "I'm Ethan, your stylist, it's nice to meet you."

"Stylist?" I say quietly, regretting not being more polite. I don't find the room stunning at all.

Ethan is quite good lucking, ash blond hair and sea green eyes. He seems to dress a little less extravagantly than the others in the Capitol. He has no makeup on and his skin is a natural peachy colour. He is wearing a plain black T-shirt and jeans with a smart belt and shoes. Now I think about it he is actually really good looking.

"I'll be your stylist before the games, so you look your best and can get as many sponsors as possible." He tells me. Seeing my blank expression, he adds "Katniss will talk to you about sponsors."

"Oh, ok. It's nice to meet you." He shakes my hand.

"Do you want to come downstairs and meet everyone?" I don't particularly want to meet anyone, but I suppose I will have to at some point. I may as well get it over and done with now.

"Ok." I follow him to the dining room where everyone is sitting at one of the fourteen different tables. Each table is reserved for a different district.

The dining room is impressive. It has the same roof and floor that runs through the train, the same gold chandeliers. The chairs are a blood red cushion and the tables are coated in a snow white tablecloth. The food, _oh the food, _is like heaven. It is still around breakfast time so there are bread rolls with and without brown stuff inside of them, tea, coffee and just about everything I can imagine.

I sit down quietly in between Ethan and someone I don't know, as far away from Sebastien as possible. I take one of the bread rolls with brown stuff inside of it and inspect it.

"That's a croissant with chocolate inside of it, try it you might like it." Ethan suggests to me. I try it and wrinkle my nose and Ethan smiles. I like the croissant, just not the brown stuff – chocolate. Ethan hands me a plain croissant and I take a glass of water.

I sit in silence while everyone talks. Sebastien tries to talk to me a couple of times, but I cut him off, I'm not ready to talk to him just yet.

Finally, Ethan introduces me to everyone, "Laurel, this is Rafaela, but you can call her Ella or Ells. She is another stylist, like me," he says, indicating to the girl next to me. She is quite pretty, but she has a pale purple hair and loads of purple makeup. Her dress is a tie-dyed purple and pink and her skin is its natural colour, "this is Charlotte, who you've met, and these are the other two stylists, Eleanor and Josephine," he points to two girls – twins? They must be. They both have the district 2 look, blond hair, brown eyes and tanned skin. Maybe they are from district 2. They are dressed normally and they don't seem anything like the people from the Capitol. They are bubbly and funny, I warmed to them quickly. We are all talking amongst each other when Charlotte interrupts. She is the only one who I don't particularly like.

"We're at District 11 now, come on, the reaping will start soon! It's going to be very exciting!"

I am immediately hit by an overwhelming sense of fear, not for me, but for the poor kids who are going to be reaped today. Not something I would describe as exciting.

We leave the train, or more like shoved out of the train, and end up in district 11, with Charlotte grumbling about how her dress has been ruffled getting off the train. Never before have I heard someone witter on about makeup and dresses for so long.

The weather is rather pleasant, sunny, but a little cold. District 11 is much bigger than district 12 and much more heavily guarded. I see some children starting to sign in – that was me, only an hour or so ago.

I go up on stage and take my place next to Sebastien and one of the tributes from District 13. I don't speak a word and I refuse to look at Seb.

"I'm sorry." He whispers.

The square is now full, the wide eyed children staring up at us on stage. Now I'm higher up, I can see just how big District 11 really is. There are many people who can't even fit into the square, so big screens are set up around the district to give everyone a good view of the frightened children's faces as their name is read out. There is an endless stretch of lush, green fields surrounding the district. _Of course, _I think, _District 11 is agriculture._ The children and adults must spend hours every day working there, or they do now, since the Capitol regained control over Panem.

The escort walks slowly and deliberately to the stage. All the muttering stops. The one thing in district 11 that stays in my mind is the large amount of names in the reaping bowl.

"Welcome to the first district 11 reaping," she begins, "I am Patricia Kelly and I think you'll all enjoy today! Today will be a day that you will remember for the rest of your lives, you can tell your descendants all about today and you will be very proud to be able to say that you were at the first reaping since the second rebellion!" Oh god. No one is going to do that. She has an actual afro, it's red and black. Apart from that, she is all blue, including her skin. She must be delusional, to think that kids actually want this to happen to them.

"Now, I know you're all excited for this marvellous occasion, but first I must play a video!"

The same video that I saw in District 12 is played. When it is over, Patricia speaks again.

"Ok, I'm going to read out the names now, remember, don't worry if it's not you, if this year's not your year, there's always next year!" Patricia pulls out a slip from the bowl with the girls names in and begins to read it out –

"I volunteer." A girl calls quietly from the audience. She has long, straight onyx coloured hair that looks like it gets in the way a lot and huge brown eyes – they look almost black. She is thin and her skin is ghostly pale and she looks tall for her age. She is only twelve; I notice how swift her movements are as she walks to the stage, like she's gliding. I don't understand why she would volunteer though, I start to doubt myself, maybe the children from here are enjoying this. I look back at the sad, scared faces in the crowd and dismiss my thoughts. There are some faces of relief coming from the girls, as I expected.

The girl is playing with her hair as she walks on stage. I ignore Patricia's exclamations of excitement. The girl announces herself as Loreli Tamsen. She comes over and shakes our hands. I don't look her in the eyes as she shakes my hand; I'm disappointed that someone would volunteer like that for seemingly no reason. I try to stop myself from jumping to conclusions about the girl. _You don't know the circumstances _I tell myself.

As the escort reads out the boy's name, I expect some child to cry out in sadness, but the same thing happens again, a boy volunteers. This one doesn't look right though. He is about five foot five and looks underweight, about 100 pounds if I have to guess. He has short, brownish red hair and sunken brown eyes with bags under them. He looks insane, or at least a little mad. There are cuts all over his face and legs and he has an overall look of neglect and evil.

He stands on the stage for a second, looking confused, as if he didn't really mean to volunteer. I have now concluded that he is insane. When he speaks, his voice is a mangled rasp that I find difficult to understand.

"Farrow Tare." I think he says. I shake his hand and again avoid eye contact. Seb looks him right in the eye though, as if he is challenging him. Farrow returns the glare before sitting down next to Loreli. She edges away from him, a little closer to Sebastien. Seb edges towards me and I elbow him hard in the ribs. He yelps a little and I smirk.

The reaping is over now; the relieved children begin to disband. I can tell who the tributes families are, the ones with the saddened expressions, the tears in their eyes.

I go back to the coal black train, ready to go to District 10.

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**Hiiiii! Sorry it's been a while, I planned to update this story a lot sooner than I did! Thank you for the wonderful reviews!**

**I really need the reserved tributes now, so i-am-foxface, Disenchanted lotf, MockingjayFlyAway and girlonfire27 I need your tributes! I have four male tribute spots left, so if anyone wants to submit, please do! I'm not going to be able to update the chapter after next if I don't get the tributes!**

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**Now, I really didn't want to have to do this, but I'm going to have to put both my stories on hold until March at least. I'm going to be really busy over the next month or so, so I can't update :( Sorry! I will be reviewing and stuff though;)**

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**~Blazing Amethyst xx**


	6. District 10

**Sorry it's been so long since my last update! Thank you to everyone who reviewed my last chapter, I hope that you liked it! I changed the characters name from Finnik to Sebastian because I felt like it ;)**

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**I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

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**District 10**

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I sit quietly in my room; there is complete silence around me. I look out of the window and watch the fields fly past. The tributes from District 11 are being shown around the train. There is no noise at all and I smile a little to myself. It seems like forever since I have been on my own.

Since I have been reaped, which was still only about an hour or so ago, I haven't had any time to myself, everyone has been fussing around me. I have managed to escape though, after the District 11 reaping, I went straight to my room. I have been there ever since.

It won't be long now until we reach District 10. I can just imagine the children saying goodbye to their families now, getting ready to see if it would be them, if they would be reaped.

And just like that I realise why the tributes from District 11 have volunteered. It has been bothering me for a while now, but I just push it to the back of my mind, trying to forget about it. I realise now that the tributes may not know about the Hunger Games. It has been explained to them, most likely, but they might not know what the games are really like. District 11 have no victors still alive, they have either died before the rebellion, or during it. The tributes could have volunteered, not really knowing what they're getting themselves in to, only thinking about the prize at the end. If they make it that far.

It occurs to me that Finnik and I may end up being the only tributes who know what the Hunger Games are really going to be like.

I hear Charlotte's voice, piercing the silence like a knife, "My goodness! We're going to be late! I must speak to the driver, this is ridiculous!" She seems to be talking to no one at all, just grumbling loudly to herself and irritating everyone in range.

I don't care if we are late or not, the only thing that bothers me is the fact that the voice is coming towards my room.

"Laurel! Laurel!" Charlotte says much louder than necessary, "Where are you? Laurel!"

"I'm here." I reply eventually, quietly. I usually ignore people like her, but I have a feeling she won't shut up and her voice is the most irritating thing.

"Where have you been, child! I was looking for you everywhere! We're late so you must get ready! Why aren't you changed? Get out of that ridiculous dress and into something more fashionable!"

I don't bother trying to argue. She leaves the room and I contemplate changing. I have never worn a dress before in my life, until today. Although it was a pretty dress, I would much prefer to be in something much more comfortable.

I look in the wardrobe that was much too big, only to find big puffy dresses, which Charlotte probably means for me to wear when she says 'fashionable'. There is no way I'm going to put on any of those clothes. I remember, when I was younger, my mother used to try and make me look 'presentable' for school. Which was basically attempting to get me to wear something girly. I refused and eventually got to wear what I want, which was usually ripped jeans or combat pants, with a T-Shirt and a hoodie if it was cold.

If my mother, who is incredibly pushy when she wants to be, can't get me to wear a dress, then there was no way Charlotte could. I look around the room for a while, trying to find something to wear. I eventually find a machine that apparently gives me whatever clothes I ask for. I search for clothes and after a while I give up. I have found the outfit that I want, but it won't give me the outfit. I had pressed the button like a hundred times (ok, maybe not that many, but quite a few times) and nothing happens. I turn around and on my bed was the outfit I chose. I look at the machine, then back to my bed a few times before standing there, confused. I eventually decide to put on the grey hoodie, the band t-shirt with Nickleback on (I don't know who they are but they look cool, they don't look like they're from the Capitol), comfortable looking white and black trainers and thick black leggings.

I walk downstairs and sit at the table. Seb isn't there, which is good, I'm still really annoyed with him. Charlotte isn't there either, which is why it seems much quieter. I quietly talk to Eleanor, just answering her questions. Some food is brought to the table and I immediately begin to stuff myself with the strawberries. I love strawberries. At the back of my mind I remember the table manners my parents have drilled into me since before I could talk. My mother has always had this thing about being polite and she would not be happy if she could see me now, slouching. I sit up straight and continue to eat the strawberries a little more slowly this time. No one seems to notice.

Someone sits down next to me. Sebastian. I'm about to move when Charlotte takes the last empty chair. I silently curse her.

"Hey." Sebastian says cheerily. I ignore him like I have been doing since he volunteered for no reason; since I found out he made a plan behind my back.

Charlotte continues to go on about how late we are (I don't think we're late at all to be honest) and Ethan tries to calm her down.

We arrive in District 10 and I'm forced to stop eating strawberries. The train is being checked for some unknown reason to do with security so we are all told to stay where we are. Charlotte, having calmed down now once she found out that we are, in fact, not late, but early, now notices what I'm wearing. I literally chew my lip to stop myself from laughing.

"What kind of outfit is that? How can you go out in public like that, you are representing your district here and you choose to wear that! Why can't you wear one of those lovely dresses in your wardrobe?"

I shrug my shoulders "I don't wear dresses."

"You wore one for the reaping." Charlotte fires back instantly.

I shrug my shoulders again. I only wore it because I didn't want to disappoint my mother. I didn't want to argue about anything to do with the reaping, so I just let her do what she wants with me.

"There is no time to change now, you spoilt little girl. You're going to have to go out like that and bring shame to your district, but more importantly, bring shame to me."

Seb speaks before I can at that. "Laurel is not spoiled and she will not bring shame on are district. She will not bring shame on you either; you do that all by yourself."

Charlotte looks utterly taken aback as she storms off the train. Everyone follows, with slightly amused looks on their faces. I thank Seb quietly before leaving the train.

The first thing I notice about District 10 is that it is very busy. As soon as we are off the train we have to push and shove our way through the crowds to get to the stage. I take a set with the other tributes and we wait for everyone to sign in. Even with my hoodie on I still shiver from the cold.

The square fills up gradually, almost every child has red eyes and tear stained faces.

The children don't wait long. The escort walks to the stages and announces herself as Delilah Mansfield. She is plump and has tightly curled black hair. Her skin is a reddish colour and she is wearing black makeup. Her eyes are also black. She is wearing a black and red gothic dress with black heels. She seems kind of creepy in general.

The same video is played and then Delilah picks a name from the girls reaping bowl. I realised that she hadn't welcomed the children to their first reaping. Not that it would do much, but all the other escorts have done so.

"Amelia Buckets." She read out emotionlessly.

Amelia's looks aren't that appealing. She has dirty blonde hair that reaches her shoulders in a matted clump the ends are also uneven. She has pale blue eyes. They seem to have once been bright and energetic, but are now lifeless and empty. She has hollow cheeks and barely any stomach. She has probably been starving to death like most other kids. Her ears stick out beneath her hair amusingly, and her nose is overly-small. She is extremely short. Her pale skin is blotched with bruises and a few scars. She has a background of some sort, something has happened to her in the past and I immediately became curious to what it is.  
She wears a black tank-top that has a rip in the right side, and blood-red shorts with uneven pant legs the right side ends at her knee and her left was ripped to half-way from her hips to her knee.

Some boy yelled "AMELIA!" and she burst into tears. A peacekeeper drags her to the stage and another girl starts bawling hysterically. The crowd didn't seem to know who she was, but they all look pitiful.

The escort says nothing as Amelia stands on stage. Amelia comes over and shakes all of our hands, not daring to make eye contact with anyone, before sitting down.

The escort then reads out the male tribute "Jesse Tanner."

A boy of about 17 came to the stage, yelling he was sorry to some girl. He has long black hair and he seems paranoid. I have seen him a few minutes ago, muttering about how he was going to be killed, by being there.

As he shakes my hand, I hear him mutter "I'm not going to die... Not gonna die..."

The reaping is then finished. I'm glad it's over. I don't want to see every child's sad faces as they find out that it's them, or even someone that they love.

We head back to the train, the once beautiful coal-black train, now more of a grey colour, as if we were about to walk in to some sort of haunted house.


End file.
